SP Jananathan, National Award-winning Tamil filmmaker, admitted to ICU after found unconscious at Chennai residence

SP Jananathan, the National Award-winning Tamil director, was admitted to ICU, on Thursday, 11 March, after his assistants found him unconscious in the room at his Chennai residence. Producer Azhagan Thamizhmani, who is close to Jananathan, told The News Minute that the filmmaker is on ventilator support and under doctors’ observation. His preliminary reports state that the director is brain dead, the report added. Multiple news reports stated that the director was busy editing a movie before he left for his residence for lunch. When Jananthan didn’t return to the editing room, his assistants thought of checking on him. Upon reaching his residence, they found him unconscious and rushed him to the hospital. Speaking to The Indian Express, Azhagan said that they still didn’t have full details of Jananthan’s illness. “They are not allowing anyone to see him inside the ICU,” he added. Jananathan has been busy working on the post-production of his upcoming thriller, Laabam, featuring Vijay Sethupathi and Shruti Haasan in lead roles. Reportedly, Sethupathi got emotional after seeing his director unconscious. In tears, he even tried to wake him up. Jananathan made his directorial debut with Iyarkai. The film won the National Award in 2004 in the Best Feature Film in Tamil category. He has written and directed several other films including, E (2006), Piranmai (2009), and Purampokku Engira Podhuvudamai (2015). Before Iyarkai, he worked as an assistant to the likes of B. Lenin, Bharathan, Vincent Selva and Keyar.